In Your Eyes
by The-Thorn's-Rose
Summary: An unexpected flashback returns to Shadow's dying mind as he begins to fall to the earth. As he falls, the only thing he ever loved comes back to lull him peacefully into Death's embrace. Oneshot.


- In Your Eyes -

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><p><span>Author's Note:<span> This takes place during Shadow's 'death' in Sonic Adventure 2, my favourite Sonic game, ever! I hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: All characters used in this story belong to their respective owners!

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><p>Her eyes were so perfectly blue and beautiful; he thought he'd be trapped in her gaze forever.<p>

Shadow sat in the spherical viewing room of the Space Colony ARK, gazing out of the smooth sheet of glass separating him from the endless stretches of space. The bare room was nearly as drab and metallic grey as the other rooms in the ARK, and would've been just like the others- save for the magnificent view of Earth beneath him.

And Maria.

She sat cross-legged beside him, her long fair hair framing her pale, angelic face. She turned her eyes away from the view and smiled at Shadow. He felt a wave of electricity course through him.

"The view is beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered. Her voice always gave away her intelligence and grace for some reason, Shadow thought, and nodded in response.

He felt her soft hand brush against his gloved fingers, and the warmth she possessed travelled through him.

"You're awfully quiet today!" Maria remarked, running a hand through the sleek, red and black quills of Shadow. "Where are those interesting stories you always have for me?"

"I'm sorry, Maria. I promise to have a _hundred _stories for you tomorrow, just you wait and see." he assured her, gripping her hand gently.

She smiled and leaned closer to him, nuzzling her head on his shoulder and placing a hand on his chest. His heart fluttered a beat fiercer than the rapid machinery within the ARK. "I should hope so!" she jokingly huffed. "I can't wait."

The two unlikely friends sat together in peace, watching the slowly revolving earth beneath them, so beautiful and familiar. Shadow glanced at Maria to see she had fallen asleep, looking very much like an angel- to him, anyway. He continued watching her, and then- very slowly- reached out a hand to stroke her hair.

"Don't." she warned sleepily, and Shadow jumped. He laughed nervously and let his hand drop to his side.

He watched the earth for a few more minutes, and remembering Maria's blue eyes, he too fell into a deep sleep.

Shadow's vision faded back to black, and for a fleeting moment, panicked. But then the twinkling spots of white that were stars reminded him he was in space, and he suddenly acknowledged the aching stiffness in his limbs. At the edge of his eyesight, he could see the ARK, floating in the vastness of space like a giant reminder of earth's evolution in science. The ARK also brought back painful memories of Maria, her last moments and those wondrous eyes she owned. His rings, he could see, were drifting away from him, further and further away, turning into small specks of gold. A great sense of exhaustion began to trickle into Shadow.

He glanced at the flaming ball of gold above him, hovering near the ARK, and remembered- with a small twinge of amusement- his 'faker'. Such stories of their efforts were sure to be retold to generations to come-

He was certain this story would have pleased Maria immensely.

His vision began to blacken and Shadow felt his body sag a little, and something soft and somehow familiar touched his hair and chest, where his heart beat steadily. He closed his eyes and relaxed at the touch, and he let the hand in his hair cradle him like a small child. He attempted to open his eyes- to look at the owner of the hands- but his body no longer responded to his demands. His eyes barely opened a sliver.

"My time is up, Maria." he croaked. "But at least…we can finally be together." His voice, he observed, hardly rose above a whisper. Two figures loomed over him and he reached out to the smaller, on an impulse. He stroked their face, smooth and warm, as soft as silk.

His time had come. It was time to reunite with the professor and Maria.

Breathing was beginning to become more and more difficult, and he struggled to keep his hand on the figure's face.

"Thank you for everything, Shadow the hedgehog."

His hand fell from their face and his eyes closed once more. He fell to the earth, the beloved entity that Maria had craved for so badly. He had no regrets. None at all.

For before he fell, the beautiful blue eyes of Maria Robotnik had been the last thing he had seen.

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><p>- End -<p> 


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